Watching the Pros

I'm a big fan of the game. Despite the heartbreak and pain it dolls out on a regular basis, I keep coming back to the first tee in hopes of improving. I also love watching the PGA Tour. Watching guys like Bubba Watson and Luke Donald make me believe that the game truly is easy (I am always quickly corrected of this mistake during my next round). Until this year, however, I have never had the oppurtunity to see the pros play in person. That changed this past July.

Two opportunities came my way. The first was the RBC Canadian Open being played at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver. Knowing the tournament was approaching, I got in contact with the superintendent at Shaughnessy, Rob Barr and offered my assistance for the tournament. He brought me onto his team for the week of the Open, and I had the chance to see up close what it was like. It can be best summed up as organized chaos. There is always so much happening at any given time. I was blown away by just how many people it takes to pull off such an event. I enjoyed being apart of the team there and gaining insight into how things are done at another course. Watching the golf was a great bonus, and to be there when Sean O'Hair won was great.

Main duties for the week? Picking and filling divots.

The rough was the story of the week

Meeting up with a fellow classmate on the final day

The second opportunity was the RBC Invitational that was held at Capilano Golf and Country Club where I am currently working. This was a great event where twelve pros (including Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Mike Weir, Matt Kuchar, and Charl Scwartzel to name a few) came to play a charity event for the Mike Weir Foundation. It was exciting to host the pros on our own course and it was an opportunity to see them up close just having some fun. The compliments we received from them made it well worth the hard work and early morning to get it ready for an 8 AM shotgun. I hope in my future I will have the opportunity to be involved again with more PGA events.